In Vitro Study of Pulsatile Flow Through a Motionless Diode Valve in the Pulmonary Position

Pulmonary circulation shows a tolerance for mild regurgitation and pressure gradient. [1]. Given these tolerances, we have explored using a fluid diode as a pulmonary valve. Camp et al showed that diode valves are able to regulate flow in the pulmonary position with promising results and could be tolerated using a pig model [2, 3]. Flow and shear stress patterns are two other hemodynamic concerns that must be considered during heart valve design. Elevated bulk flow shear stresses, wall shear stresses, and turbulent stresses within bioprostheses and mechanical valve flow fields are recognized as a cause of cell and platelet damage, initiating platelet activation and triggers for thrombogenesis [4–7]. In this study, we conduct in vitro flow field analysis of the flow downstream of a proposed prototype diode valve in order to observe the flow and shear stress patterns.